Fear of Loss
by Tamaki11
Summary: We all know that Michael's wife died, and he hates Ann working on machines. He's afraid of her getting hurt, and losing her. But what else is he afraid of? Magical Melody one-shot.


Hello! I have a new one-shot! _Italics_ are flashbacks or memories. There's a lot of them. Reviewers will get cookies! Constructive criticism always welcome! **Disclaimer:** I don't own Harvest Moon.

**Fear of Loss**

Even though she is gone, I still get reminded of her everyday. I don't know if it's the smell of oil, or the buzzing of the few machines that do work, or the explosions of the machines our daughter failed to make work- that's it. Our daughter. I remember her loose carrot-colored curls, her flawless ivory skin, and her big green eyes. Make the hair straight, the eyes blue, and then you have Ann. Our daughter.

Not only does Ann look like her mother, she acts like her, too. She wants nothing else but to hear the whir of a motor power a machine she'd built with her own hands. Nothing to do with romance, or socializing, or anything most other girls wanted. Her passion is machines, tools, and chunks of ores and metals. She doesn't care about having grease, grime, oil, or soot on her hands. She enjoys it, knowing that there is something to fix, giving her a challenge or a job to do. Just like her mother did. Her mother didn't act different for anyone. She was straightforward and a little outspoken. So is Ann.

Unfortunately, Ann inherited her mother's knack for messing up machines. Every time she comes with black smudges and a smile on her face, I know what she's going to tell me. Then I know what she's going to do. I know what I'm going to hear after that. She gets a familiar feeling that she feels every time this happens. I know the whole scene. Permanently burned into my brain.

* * *

"_Dad! Guess what?" my teenage daughter shouted._

"_What, Sweetheart?" I replied._

"_I finished my first machine!"_

"_That's great! I'm so proud of you!"_

"_Do you want me to show you how it works?"_

_I laughed. "Of course. Is it that automatic plow you've been working on for weeks when you were supposed to be watching for customers?" she had built a plow to help the many farmers and ranchers that grew crops for themselves or their animals in Flower Bud Village._

_She smiled. "Yes."_

_I saw the plow in one of the empty plots around our house and tool shop. Ann walked up to the machine and pressed a button. The blades spun around, throwing dirt around. Ann's face glowed with pride. Suddenly, Ann shrieked and grabbed her arm. I picked her up and carried her away. The plow spun so fast that it overheated and exploded. Ann's arm was bleeding a lot, and I rinsed it with water from the trough and bandaged it up._

_I hugged Ann close to my chest. My shoulder felt damp, and saw Ann crying. She looked disappointed instead of scared or sad._

"_What's wrong?" I asked consolingly._

"_I feel like I've let someone down," she sobbed into my shoulder._

"_You didn't let me down. I'm still proud you got the machine to do its job for a little while. You should be proud of yourself for making this machine and taking so much time on it," I consoled her._

"_I know that, Dad. I believe it when you say you'll always be proud of my work. I'm just afraid of what Mom would think."_

"_Your mother would be proud too. She blew up more than her fair share of inventions." I whispered. She looked up and giggled._

* * *

Completion, high hopes, explosions, then disappointment. Ann often went through this sequence. Just like her mother did. Ever since Ann blew up her first machine, I was afraid. Afraid that I could never fulfill by late wife's final wish. I remember it clearly.

* * *

"_She looks and acts exactly like you," I told my wife._

"_Unfortunately," she replied._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_My father said that I needed a husband, or he would disown me. If we both die, and Ann is left in the care of my father, and she doesn't luck out and find a guy who will love her like you did for me, she'll be shunned. I want her to be a proper lady so nothing happens. Promise me that if anything happens to me, you'll raise her right."_

"_But… Aren't we?"_

"_I don't know. Just promise me anyway."_

_I hesitated, because I thought my lovely wife was perfect. Of course she had those annoying quirks, such as mood swings. Goddess, I hated those. But I loved her._

_Finally, I gave in. "I promise," I said, sealing it with a kiss._

* * *

Ann didn't become what one would consider a "proper lady," and although she turned out okay, I fear I let my beloved down, as well as my daughter, for if my dearly departed wife was right, my daughter's future would be ruined.

My wife and I, we had a wonderful life together, until fate ripped us apart. We had a cozy, successful business, a wonderful daughter, lots of friends, lots of fun, and we had the one person we loved by our side every day. Destiny is a bitch.

Ann doesn't remember it. I do. It was like a normal day, just like most…

_Two orange heads were standing side by side, with greasy hands and wrenches by some new contraption they were making._

* * *

My wife didn't mind Ann working with her, but she just wished the best for her.

* * *

_A childish laughter mingled with the bell of the door ringing. Hank, the rancher, came in with a boy I hadn't seen._

"_Hey, Michael," he said, "Hi Barbara and Ann." We returned his greeting. "This is my nephew, Blue. He's my sister's kid. She just died."_

"_Hi, I'm Ann," my daughter said to Blue._

"_Leave me alone," he shot back, clutching his hat to his chest._

"_Hey, don't you city people know that you wear hats on your heads?" Ann asked._

"_This was my Mommy's before she died." Blue replied coolly._

"_Oh, well, do you want to be friends?"_

"_No. Girls have cooties."_

_Ann opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted._

"_Well, just came to introduce the young'n to all of you," Hank said before leaving with Blue._

* * *

_Ann and Barbara went back to work on the machine. I heard a loud boom, and felt another thing explode. I normally wouldn't have run back, but I heard Barbara scream. When I got back there, Ann was lying on the floor with her eyes closed, but Barbara's head was split open from a chunk of metal._

_I put Ann on the bed and picked Barbara up bridal style. I sped off to the Clinic, across the cobblestone path. I was greeted by the doctor, and he took my barely conscious wife to a hospital bed._

"_The metal has broken her skull. Another piece of metal cut her arm open, and got oil into her blood stream. She probably won't make it to tomorrow." The doctor informed me._

"_How long does she have?" I asked._

"_About… three hours. Where's Ann?"_

"_She's at home! I have to get her!"_

* * *

_In the time I was gone, Ann had woken up. I took her to see her mother, who still was barely awake._

"_Ann, Mommy loves you. Don't forget that. Even when I'm gone, I love you." Barbara said, hugging Ann close._

"_Where are you going?" Ann asked._

"_To stay with the Harvest Goddess."_

"_Mommy, my head hurts a lot," Ann said to her dying mother._

"_The doctor will help you," I told her. She went off to see the doctor about her head._

_I kissed my wife's hand, and told her I loved her. She told me the same. I held her, and she fell asleep with her head on my shoulder. As her last hour and a half ticked by, she steadily grew colder. I saw the clock, and gently laid my Barbara on the bed, as she was gone now._

_Ann came in, and shouted, "My head's all better now! My head's better now!"_

"_That's great, honey. We have to go home now," I said to her._

* * *

_After that long day, I made Ann and I some dinner, and then we went to sleep._

* * *

_The next morning wasn't that great. For the first time in six years, Barbara didn't wake up next to me. Ann thought her mom had come home at night, and was shocked when she saw she didn't._

"_Mommy?! MOMMY?!" Ann shouted._

_I felt really bad for her. She didn't really understand._

"_Where's Mommy?" she said, frightened._

"_Well, do you remember how that machine exploded yesterday?" I asked._

"_There was no explosion, Daddy."_

_She couldn't have amnesia. She remembered who we all were. So far, that was the only thing she didn't remember. She'd have to go back to the Clinic that day._

"_Well, there was. Mommy died."_

_Ann started to cry. "You mean, Mommy's not coming back?"_

_It broke my heart to say all of this, as it did through all of the events that happened yesterday. But I had to. "No, she's not."_

_At the Clinic, we found out that Ann had some kind of memory loss where she forgot from the explosion to whenever she woke up, but remembered everything else. My life has never been even close to the same._

* * *

Now, my daughter is twirling in her mother's wedding dress, and actually decided to let her hair out in a ponytail. It was done in curls, and looks like her mother's.

Looking at my daughter, I notice how much she looks like her mother now. I remember that she is the last person I have left.

I look at Blue, my son-in-law as of two hours ago. "Make sure she doesn't work on too many machines," I tell him. He nods back.

I look at Ann again. It's almost like… Barbara left a piece of her soul in Ann.

I know I'm afraid I'll lose Ann, but I think I'm more afraid of losing what's left of Barbara.


End file.
